From the misty highlands of Meghalaya to the terraced fields of Nagaland, an ancient grain is reclaiming its pride — and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wants every Indian to know it. On Sunday, 25 October 2026, Chouhan took to X to amplify a theme from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat, celebrating the renewed identity that Shri Anna — the government's aspirational name for millets — is finding across India's Northeast.

Chouhan's post read: 'Meghalaya se Nagaland tak Shri Anna ki parampara phir nayi pehchaan bana rahi hai' — 'From Meghalaya to Nagaland, the tradition of Shri Anna is once again building a new identity.' The shout-out to Mann Ki Baat signals a deliberate coordination: the Agriculture Ministry amplifying a narrative the Prime Minister seeded directly into millions of households through his broadcast address.

What 'Shri Anna' means — and why the Northeast matters

The rebranding of millets as Shri Anna — literally, 'the honoured grain' — is one of the more calculated image exercises in recent Indian agricultural policy. Historically dismissed as 'coarse grains' consumed only where nothing else grew, millets are now being repositioned as superfoods, climate-smart crops, and symbols of indigenous agrarian heritage. The Government of India declared 2023 the International Year of Millets, using that global platform to push production, exports, and domestic consumption simultaneously.

The Northeast is central to that story. States like Meghalaya and Nagaland have cultivated millet varieties for generations — in tribal homesteads, in jhum (shifting cultivation) fields, in food traditions that predate any central policy. What is new is the official attention: linking those age-old practices to a national nutrition-security and farmer-income framework.

Mann Ki Baat as an agricultural megaphone

Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly used Mann Ki Baat — his monthly direct-to-citizen radio programme with a massive national listenership — to spotlight Shri Anna. Each mention functions as a policy nudge without a gazette notification: it shifts public perception, signals bureaucratic priority, and gives ministers like Chouhan a high-visibility moment to echo the message on social media. The pattern is consistent: a Mann Ki Baat reference, followed by amplification from the Agriculture Ministry, followed by state-level rollout pressure.

For Northeast farmers, the implications are practical. Greater central focus on millet procurement, MSP coverage, and market linkages could translate into income gains for smallholder cultivators in rain-fed and tribal regions — precisely the communities that have kept these traditions alive without subsidy or celebration.

The grain that once fed the margins is now the government's headline crop. Whether state-level millet missions in Meghalaya and Nagaland can match the ambition of the messaging will be the real test of this revival.